Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’ọba

Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’ọba (commemorative queen mother heads) were placed at the ancestral shrine of the Iy’Ọba. Similar to the Ọba’s altar, the Iy’ọba also had an altar erected on her behalf which consists of a commemorative head. The Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’ọba are particularly distinguished by the Upkẹ okhokho (chicken beak) hairstyle. Usually, a woman in Benin would only have three suborbital markings, however the Iy’Ọba is shown in many of these objects with four suborbital markings, which would usually indicate a man. This may indicate thato when an Iy’Ọba is crowned, she ascends to a status usually belonging only to men.

There are two main types of Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’Ọba, those with a quadrangular block-like base or pedestal, and those with flanges, as seen in other commemorative heads. It is believed that Ọba Esigie (c. 1504–50) introduced the role and title of Iy’Ọba to honour his mother, Queen Idia. It is thus thought that the earliest heads, those with quadrangular pedestals, may date to that period (Ben-Amos, 1995 ).